Page 93 of Guarding Grace

“Have to?”

“Yes. Drop anything else you’re doing.” I slid across the second item, still in its plastic bag. “And this.”

“I have plenty of pens already.”

“Not like this you don’t. It’s called a Pain Pen, like a mini stun gun.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“This is important,” I emphasized. “You’re not going to overpower a man without some help, and this is easy to conceal in your pocket.”

“So now I have to wear a shirt with a pocket? You know I don’t even own a pocket protector?”

I tapped the pen. “Very funny. Carry it in your purse if you want, but carry it with you.”

Still shaking her head, she picked up the Pain Pen. “I wouldn’t know how to operate this.”

“Simple. Slide the switch to on, hold the button down, and press the business end with the two little pins into your attacker.”

“How long?”

“That depends on the asshole factor.”

She laughed, then put down her sandwich and arched a brow. “Were you really a sniper? I didn’t know that.”

I shrugged, surprised by the change of topic. “I am. Once a sniper, always a sniper.” It had once been a source of pride for me, but since leaving the Marines, it wasn’t something I talked about. Civilians didn’t understand the job and tended to equate the wordsniperwith cold-blooded killer. “My job was to save lives.” I had provided overwatch to keep our people safe.

“Where did they send you?”

“I can’t talk about my missions. It’s all classified.” That wasn’t strictly true, but this was the kind of talk that could quickly go off the rails with someone as sensitive as Grace. Civilians didn’t always understand that combat could come down to a simple question of kill or be killed.

“You had to shoot people?”

“My job was to make sure our soldiers and Marines didn’t get shot. I was overwatch, watching their backs. If I saw a threat to one of our guysand didn’t act in time, someone else paid the price. So yes, I had to engage.” It had been one of those split-second decisions that kept Lucas alive in Syria and earned me a spot at Hawk.

Grace swallowed and blinked back a tear. “That must have been hard.”

I nodded. “You’re not human if it’s easy. But if one of the enemy was intent on hurting one of my team, it became necessary.”

“Did you mean it this morning when you threatened to kill Victor?”

“All that matters is thathebelieves it. Making the other guy scared enough to not start a fight is always the best way to win.”

She sniffled once, then got up and closed the distance between us, wrapping her arms around me. “Thank you. I’m so grateful that we have men like you to do the hard jobs so the rest of us can sleep at night.”

I held her tight and rubbed her back for a moment. “I’ll stop at nothing to keep you safe.”

She nodded into my chest. “I know. That call this morning made me so mad.”

Apparently, the Victor conversation had affected her more than I realized. I squeezed her tight in response. “Lucas has reached out for a meeting with Victor’s father, who’s the real guy in charge, and we’ll get Victor straightened out. There’s no way the old man wants to go to war with Lucas and the rest of us.”

She nodded into my chest. “You’re all doing so much for me.”

I pulled her chin up. “You’re one of the family.”

She giggled.

There was a quick knock on the door, and then it opened.